Home

I've been back home for nearly two weeks. Re-entry has been easier than I expected, but it still comes in fits and starts. I was far more overwhelmed by the commercialism and the pathetic state of TV when I visited in May than I am this time. We've had some very pretty days here (sort of like April in Malta weather-wise), but also many days of clouds and rain. I find I get slightly "down" when the clouds are around more than a day--I must have caught this from Malta.

I've been trying to find the equivalents here to things I liked in Malta. I drive far more, but I've also been walking for odds and ends to nearby small shops. I volunteered to read to children at my local library, though they've never gotten back to me. I even checked on walking dogs at the local humane society (but not yet acted upon the information; I may just offer to walk two neighbor dogs). We have bought a clothes line, but it's not set up yet. I planted rocket in the garden and hope I'll get some before the first frost. It's just poking up now.

My eating habits seem quite changed and much to the better. I produced a quick dish of mozzarella, onion, fresh basil, two colors of tomato, oregano and olive oil. My husband looked at it and said, "Wow, you must have eaten at some great places in Malta, this is plated so well." It was pretty, come to think of it.

There was a piano in my apartment in St. Paul's Bay that I played virtually everyday. I was teaching myself and will soon need to take lessons to avoid learning very bad habits. Last week we drove down to Green Bay and bought a piano. It's going to be delivered soon, so I'm painting the living room. The room was in dire need of change, and this was an excellent excuse. It's a cream color-- I think the Maltese color palette must have been burned into my brain. To keep up with my decision to have more "social life," I'm planning to have a piano-warming party with a collection of friends who don't normally interact.

I'm starting to get requests for talks about Malta. My first "gig" is Rotary in Aug. I've decided to give that club the Rotary banner the La Vallette Rotary gave me when I talked to them back in April. I may also join the organization. I will eventually give a talk on campus. Maybe I'll get other requests.

On further reflection about the impact of the Fulbright, I've decided that living abroad for a more extended time has the effect of magnifying one's strengths and weaknesses. It also shifts the unclear, middling things more clearly to either strength or weakness. I will never have a neat home or office, a weakness that was only mitigated by my wonderful housekeeper in Malta. In the "middling range" I am quite willing to eat and behave in healthier ways that I was. So I'm hoping that set of behaviors has moved more decisively to the strengths side. I was always a sound teacher. All the different kinds of teaching I did on my Fulbright has enhanced that strength.

Last, I've been turning ideas around in my head for an article about globalization and power. I want to use Malta as the way to frame the article. All the flows of globalization--good and bad--hit the country. It's more obvious in Malta than in the US. The way Malta uses its power as a "micro state" are thus more apparent and interesting.

As soon as I find my cord for downloading photos to my computer, I'll put some pictures up of London and Edinburgh.

Walk along Mellieha Bay 1

The Malta Geographical Society had a walk today along Mellieha Bay. It was a perfect day, light breeze, 19-21 C (upper 60s low 70s F), sunshine. Just great, glad to be alive weather. A new wildflowers are coming out, so I have some photos of those in Mellieha 2, along with the bay. I like how the waters have multiple shades of blue. The town in the first picture is Mellieha itself. I sincerely wish I'd gotten a better picture of the mimosa trees that are in bloom, you can see the yellow flower a bit in the view of the town of Mellieha. The reddish flowers in the foreground of the sea view seem to be clover or some kind of vetch. I'm still not sure what the yellow flowers are; the leaves look a bit like marigolds.

Reflection 2

Some things that appear to be different from home:
a) people just about never eat alone--they are very gregarious. Restaurants hardly know what to do with me.
b) dog doo and trash is everywhere; people throw stuff from cars.
c) national holidays are associated with specific political parties.
d) outsides often look modest; insides of places are great.
e) homes seem to have many framed paintings or sketches on the wall.
f) most doors are closed at school and students have to knock and queue up--even for dept offices. It might be in honor of air conditioning, the high number of part-timers, or the fact that classes really haven't started. So, I must wait to further evaluate this observation. LATER-- Classes started and mine is the only open door when I don’t have air conditioning on. I was locked in last night. Fortunately someone in another building was around and called security for me (I didn’t have the number, but I’ll get it for future reference). For some reason I am not authorized for a building key. That is not all bad-- zero chance I’ll be tempted to go to the office in the evenings or on weekends.
g) students do not engage in extracurricular activities much (hypothesis: they spend time with family and friends if they have time).
h) quite a few young adults seem to live with parents until they marry--even into the late 20s. But this is increasingly common in the US.
i) university education is tuition-free and students even get small stipends for living and books. This does not increase their desire to study (smile).
j) generally speaking [N=9], food is excellent in restaurants, but wine matching has yet to catch up with the food. In Houghton, the same could be said about wine matching, but only a few of the restaurants in town match what I'm finding here on the food count.
k) the drinking age is 16; the driving age is 18. I used that comparison in discussing jurisdiction in international law—states can prescribe rules and apply them to anyone in their territory. My IMLI students asked if the US embassy in Malta would serve drinks to a 17 year old. I said I didn’t know, but I seriously doubted it. Fun question.
l) Maltese are known for their tax evasion.

Things that seem similar
a) family matters
b) there is a serious lack of signage (Michigan Tech only recently fixed this, I still get lost driving at home now and then on back roads)
c) the local beer is good
d) food costs are very similar to Houghton (but the fruits and veggies are much more wonderful here)
e) everyone is friendly and helpful--I have even managed to get help from the bus drivers (who are known for in-your-face gruffness). People have been overwhelmingly generous with their time and help to me. Tech is very friendly, too.
f) people love dogs
g) there is a lot of entrepreneurial behavior..but it "feels" different, somehow, from home. Perhaps I'll do a reflection on it in a few months.
h) faith matters (Malta is virtually all Catholic--there was a mass at the opening of the public university, a point that should go up in the different category)

malta photos